The Flatey Book

From the introductory.The Flateybook parchment is kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, where the writer has repeatedly seen and carefully examined it. It is one of the most beautiful manuscripts, on parchment, to be found anywhere. It is written by a master of penmanship, and the initials, as the reader will see, are rare examples of the penman's art. The other manuscript which tells us of the Vinland voyages is the so-called Hauksbook, giving the story of Thorfin Karlsefne. This...
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From the introductory.The Flateybook parchment is kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen, where the writer has repeatedly seen and carefully examined it. It is one of the most beautiful manuscripts, on parchment, to be found anywhere. It is written by a master of penmanship, and the initials, as the reader will see, are rare examples of the penman's art. The other manuscript which tells us of the Vinland voyages is the so-called Hauksbook, giving the story of Thorfin Karlsefne. This equally exquisite parchment is preserved in the so-called Arna-Magnæan collection in Copenhagen, which is a part of the Copenhagen University Library. The date of this manuscript is not older than 1299, or later than 1334. Hauk Erlendson died this latter year and there is substantial evidence that the manuscript was written partly by him and partly by his scribes, the parchment showing at least two other penmanships besides Hauk's, from whom an autograph letter is still preserved. The Hauksbook takes its name from the powerful and distinguished Norwegian who lived in the early part of the 14th century. His father was Erlend Olafson the Strong, who had served as lawman and sysselman in Iceland, and whose death occurred about 1312. Hauk's mother was an Icelandic woman. In the year 1295 he was chosen lawman in Iceland, but about 1299 he moved to Norway where he held the office of lawman for a number of years. In 1302 he became a member of the King's cabinet; in 1304 he was Knighted, and subsequently he made a number of voyages to Iceland on missions for King Hakon. In 1319 he was one of the Norwegian representatives who concluded a treaty of union between Norway and Sweden, making Magnus Erikson King of both countries. He died in Bergen, Norway, about the year 1334. This Hauk Erlendson took a deep interest in Norse history and literature, and as a scholar he rendered most valuable service by making excellent and highly critical copies of laws and Sagas. Some of these are still extant in the so-called Hauksbook preserved in the Arne-Magnæan department of the University Library in Copenhagen. This choice parchment contains the Landnamabok, the Kristnisaga, the Saga of Thormod Kolbrunarskald, the Thorgeirs Saga, parts of the Skjoldunga Saga and of the Trojamama Saga, a Norse version of Merlin's Prophecies and, what is of special interest in this connection, the account we give in this volume in facsimile of Thorfin Karlsefne's voyage to Vinland. It will thus be seen that this precious manuscript dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. Publication of these thoroughly authenticated documents, with translations, must compel acknowledgment of the truth of the claim that during the 10th and 11th centuries Norsemen discovered and visited a great extent of the eastern coasts of North America. These documents will doubtless also lead to the conviction that for four centuries, immediately following the discovery, intercourse between Greenland, Iceland and Vinland was never entirely discontinued. The main fact is certain and undisputable. On the other hand, there are in them, as well as in all other ancient writings, certain portions of the narrative which are obscure, and which it will devolve upon future scholars to clear up. On this account we think we render a very important service in publishing - the original sources of information, viz., the ancient manuscripts themselves, so that all may have the opportunity to consult them and to form their judgment as to the accuracy of the interpretations given. The evidence presented in this work proves beyond dispute that the coast of North America was discovered in the latter part of the 10th century, immediately after the discovery and settlement of Greenland by the Norsemen, and that this coast was visited repeatedly by men in the 11th century, and likewise by colonists and exploring expeditions in the 12th and 14th centuries.